We'll Always Have Paris
by ricashaye
Summary: What if Bella never moved to Forks and never met the Cullens? She has her life all planned out. However, Fate has other plans when she meets a beautiful man in Paris... B/E. Second Chapter up! Please R&R!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_Parisian love can bloom high in a skylight room  
Or in a gay café where hundreds of people can see_

* * *

It only took a moment, one fraction of a second, for Edward Cullen to realize that he was, indeed, capable of infatuation.

He had been sitting in Le Dauphin, an unassuming little café at the heart of Paris, when she had entered and ordered a cup of black coffee. Before he caught her scent, before he became mystified by her evasive thoughts, he was immediately struck by her eyes. They weren't exceptionally beautiful, at least not conventionally, but they held an expressive naïveté that captured his interest. He wasn't sure how, but they managed to betray her stoicism while keeping every thought carefully locked away. She was a mysterious parcel just waiting to be unwrapped, and Edward was incredibly grateful that he was talented at doing just that.

Just as he began to reach out and seek her thoughts, the strange girl stumbled over her own two feet. Perhaps if the café had been built a little larger, her scent wouldn't have affected him so. She lost her balance and collided with a nearby table, thankfully clinging to one of the chairs until she could resume intelligent function of her legs. If she had come any closer, Edward knew without a doubt that he wouldn't have been able to stop himself.

Her scent was intoxicating. As it wafted his direction, it took all of his willpower to keep from bolting from his seat to test if she tasted the same, absolutely delicious. The coffee mug that was once cradled gingerly between his hands shattered into many porcelain shards, covering him and the table he sat at in tepid coffee. There was no way he could resist. No temptation had ever been as strong, and as she lifted her dark eyes to meet his, he knew that there never would be again. This dark-haired siren sang to the predator within his marble shell, and she was nothing like he had ever imagined her to be. She responded with a shallow hiccup instead of a formal apology and attempted to adjust the many chairs she had knocked over in her clumsy episode. Even when he forced himself not to breathe in, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her.

She left moments later, flushed with embarrassment and mumbling several poorly pronounced French apologies. The café was nearly the same as before she had entered, and most of the patrons had already moved on from the amusing spectacle she had created. Only one man, still clutching the wooden table as if it were the only thing that could anchor him to reality, recalled every single detail.

It was only after she left that he realized he had never heard her thoughts at all.

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I'll keep updating this! Next chapter will be up soon. R&R please! I'm totally a new writer. 


	2. Aéroports de Paris

Chapter 1

Aéroports de Paris

_Stranger beware, there's love in the air under Paris skies  
Try to be smart and don't let your heart catch on fire_

_

* * *

_

"Yes, Renee, the flight was fine. Long, but fine."

Isabella Swan combed her fingers through her dark hair as she released yet another exasperated sigh. Honestly, if it had been her first time flying over seas, she could have understood her mother's paranoia. It wasn't though, and she had already safely landed at the Paris airport. The simplest explanations still didn't make reasoning with Renee Dwyer any easier, and as she nearly lost her balance yet again while attempting to hold on to her rolling bag, Bella decided the best thing was to end the conversation. Or perhaps hang up abruptly and blame it all on a bad connection later.

"No, no one frisked me. You know, as much as I want to continue this chat, I really need collect my suitcases."

Hauling two large carry-ons across the airport to her baggage claim was bad enough, and her mother wasn't making the task any better. After a few terse words and a short farewell, Bella managed to finish the call. Her mistake, however, was in stopping to slip her rather cumbersome cell phone back into her purse. Perhaps if she had traded it back in years ago, the entire situation would have never arisen.

Money was tighter for Bella than it should have been. Attending an out of state school sapped enough from her bank account, but choosing to spend a semester abroad in Paris had really put a damper on her funds. Perhaps if she had chosen to attend a college in Arizona, where she had spent the best years of her life and had graduated high school, she could afford nicer things. However, she had felt guilty enough keeping her mother in a state while her new husband travelled as a minor league baseball player. At one point, Bella had offered to move in with her father in a tiny town near Seattle, but Renee had dismissed her plan so thoroughly that there had been no room for argument.

It was the least she could do to attend college near her father, Charlie. If she had stayed in Phoenix and attended the university there, it was likely that Renee would have felt obligated to keep a home for her. Bella knew her mother and her flights of fancy too well, and even if she had chosen to live in an apartment, Renee would have stayed around just so she could visit on weekends. The entire situation was ridiculous, and even though her friends had chosen to stay in the south to get their undergraduate degrees, Bella made the journey north and chose Washington State.

The past two years hadn't been too bad. The weather was harsh and she hated snow, but the people were friendly and a new environment had given her enough room to discover exactly what she wanted to do. Her friend and roommate Angela had taken her on a trip to Paris prior, and the two had fallen so head over heels for the city that choosing to study there for a semester had seemed not only a logical decision, but an incredibly exciting adventure as well. Thankfully, they hadn't come over alone—her university offered a program for transfer students, so others like-minded individuals had chosen to take classes in France.

It was going to be the experience of a lifetime. That is, if she could ever make it out of the airport alive.

Whoever bumped into her from behind was rushed enough to add insult to injury. When she tripped over her bag and in the process, dumped the entire contents of her purse in the middle of the high traffic terminal she had been standing in, Bella had at least expected a little help or a profound apology. As she sunk to her hands and knees to gather her scattered belongings, she glanced up to see that the man, dressed in a particularly nice suit, hadn't even paused to see the damage he had done.

"Hey! Stop, you douche bag!" she called after his retreating form, more than a little annoyed at the tall stranger's rude behavior. When he paused at the sound of her voice, she half-expected some gesture of remorse. Instead he mechanically glanced over one shoulder before continuing on his way.

Staring after his fading figure in astonishment before giving an audible curse of disbelief, Bella blew a few capricious strands of hair out of her eyes and continued her attempts to play cleanup crew. Thankfully most of her items managed to make it back into her purse before being trampled on, save a tampon or two. She managed to slip her foot back into one of her shoes, which had become a casualty of the setback and had landed nearby, and continue her trek towards the luggage pickup. Bella decided to put the embarrassing incident behind her. People were jerks, and maybe he was one of the few who fit the whole rude French man stereotype. There were firsts for everything.

Thankfully the baggage carrousel had only just begun its rounds when she finally arrived. Piling her bags onto one of the luggage carts, she pushed her way through the crowd until she could adequately see what was rolling past on the conveyor belt. With her luck, she'd find her suitcases after everyone else had left, and all the taxis would be gone. It wasn't out of the realm of possibility—when it came to good fortune, Bella seemed to be broke.

A beat up trunk, blue duffel bag, and three garment parcels crawled by before she saw her first suitcase. With a little yelp, Bella leapt forward and gripped the handle tightly. Maybe her luck was changing after all. The prospect had hardly crossed her mind before falling flat as another, much larger hand, closed over her own.

"That's mine, thanks," a deep voice spoke in a rather curt tone.

Bella glanced up at the owner of the hand who had taken hold of her bag and was struck by the visage of possibly the most beautiful man she had ever seen. Well, second. This was what intrigued her, and kept her staring far longer than was socially acceptable. He was so incredibly…_familiar. _With wide eyes she indecently roamed his face, trying to discover the source of her déjà vu. His mouth was set in a hard, disapproving line she had seen before, and Bella could have sworn that she recalled the same angular jaw and blanched skin. It wasn't until she solidly met his eyes that her heart skipped a beat and she remembered.

They had met before.

Of course, not formerly, unless Bella wanted to count making an ass of herself in front of him the year prior to her current sojourn abroad. The same exceptional russet eyes willed a cold stare similar to the one she had received in the coffee shop so long ago. Normally, she wasn't one to dwell too long on the antics of her clumsy body. She so frequently proved her oafishness that one trip up hardly kept her embarrassed for long. That day had been much different, though. Perhaps because she had spotted the same stranger who was now holding her hand in a firm, cool grip.

"N-No, it's mine," Bella stammered, tearing her eyes from his and glancing back at her suitcase. It was definitely the neat, new luggage she had bought especially for her trip. Everything she had at home was far too small to pack her life in for the next four months. Hand refusing to relent her claim on the baggage, she followed it as it continued its path down the conveyor belt, oblivious to the dispute between two potential owners.

"You're wrong," he clipped and rather easily plucked her hand off of the luggage grip. His ease in lifting the suitcase, which would have taken her several minutes to heave off of the rack, made her sick. No one should be born with that much natural grace, especially when she could hardly walk straight. A strand of copper hair fell in his eyes as he bent down to pop the extension handle, and for a moment the fluorescent lights of the terminal left him haloed. No one should be that damn beautiful, either. Bella was momentarily distracted, and the stranger took no time in giving her a little salute and rolling _her_ bag away from where she was standing.

"Hey. Hey! That's _mine_!" she exclaimed and bolted after him. There was no way she was going to just let him leave with her luggage. She had all of her clothing in there, not to mention textbooks and toiletries. Bella wasn't about to be stranded without a toothbrush all because this jackass thought he had the right to tell her whose luggage was whose.

"No, it's not," he responded levelly without ceasing his temperate pace. His total nonchalance irked her more than the fact that he was stealing all of her belongings. Quickening her steps so she could skirt around him and attempt to take back her suitcase, she shot him an angry glare and took hold of the fabric handle. Walking backwards was never a good idea, and Bella was exceptionally thankful that the path had cleared. Yes, people were watching, but she wasn't about to relent just because they had attracted a crowd.

The abrupt stop threw her off guard, and she skidded forward, nearly falling into him in the process. The man drew in a deep breath through his nose before deliberately pointing at the tag.

Then Bella felt like an absolute idiot for not only chasing the beautiful man down, but forgetting she had tied a lime ribbon to the tag ring before she had left home. With numb fingers, she reached down to check the name on the luggage, desperately hoping that green piece of fabric was laying somewhere in the bottom of an airplane.

_Edward Cullen._

Oh shit.

"I…look, I'm so, _so_ sorry…" she started, already experiencing the rush of too much blood flooding to her head. Falling on her face she could handle, but being an absentminded jerk? That was just humiliating.

"This is the second time today, at least, that you've really gone too far. Instead of bothering me yet again, why don't you try and take someone else's luggage?"

The icy quality of his voice sent a shiver down her spine, and yet again she recalled yet another one of their meetings. How many times had she met this Edward and not ever known it? Eyes drifting down to take in the details of his clothing, she felt twice as obtuse. He had been the one to collide so rudely with her before, and she hadn't even noticed the expensive suit because she had been so preoccupied with his eyes…or maybe his mouth…or…

No!

"You know what? You can just…go to hell."

Brushing her hands down the front of her pleated blouse, she attempted to regain what little composure she could manage. Turning on the heel of her foot, she marched back to her luggage cart, where thankfully no one had stolen her other carry-ons. Her determination to get her things and leave triumphed, and she was out the front gate in less than ten minutes.

Little did she know that the strange man, one Edward Cullen, was watching from afar. With a wry smile on his perfect lips, he recounted the irony in the uncoordinated girl's demand. This was the third time he had chanced upon her, and she really had no idea how hellish her effect on him could be.

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Please, please, please review! Let me know what you think! This is my first ever multi-chaptered fic. Thank you! 


	3. La Sorbonne

**Chapter 2**

La Sorbonne

_Yes, I was a fool_

_For Paris can be so beautifully cruel_

_

* * *

_

"It's the Arc de Triomphe, Jessica. Have you done anything other than shop?"

Bella couldn't help but laugh at Angela's playful chiding. Her suitemate was usually a sensible, quiet girl, but Bella knew her to have a surprising sense of humor. Their new friend Jessica Stanley, who also lived in the room next door, was currently sprawled out on one of their beds and sorting through the pictures Bella had gotten developed earlier that day. The past week and a half had been a blur, and most of her time had been spent taking snapshots of famous monuments. Even though she had been to Paris before, she couldn't resist acting like a tourist and getting it out of her system.

Jessica pouted and flipped to the next photograph, one of Bella awkwardly posing in front of the Eiffel Tower. "See! I've been there before. It's so romantic. I mean, I've seen that! So what's wrong with a little shopping? It's not like there is anything else worth seeing," she whined. Angela and Bella both rolled their eyes simultaneously. Even though their neighbor was amiable enough, she was still an easy target for their jokes.

"Jessica, keep looking. There are lots of things to see in France! Have you been to Versailles yet? I think you might like it," Angela started pleasantly before giving her roommate a sidelong glance. "Maybe all of us can go sometime on a weekend. Classes start Monday, but I don't have one on Friday."

"What's a Versailles?" Jessica asked, slightly unenthused, though she was glancing at the pictures once again.

"It's the center of old Paris. Cradle of the French Revolution," Bella stated to a slightly bewildered Jessica. "You know. Marie Antoinette? The Guillotine?"

The only response she received was a blank stare.

"It's a castle," Bella muttered flatly, and closed her eyes in resigned annoyance at her friend's squeal of childish pleasure. Clearly history held nothing over Jessica's dreams of becoming a Disney princess. With an amused smirk in Angela's direction, Isabella Swan plucked a random photograph out of the lineup.

It fell from her fingers moments later, and was followed only be stunned silence.

"What's wrong with you?" Jessica squawked, snatching up the photograph to scan it with greedy, inquisitive eyes. The print was rather ordinary, depicting Bella and Angela smiling casually while having tea outside of a small café. With a raised eyebrow, she passed the picture back to Bella.

"Him! That's him! I swear, that man has been stalking to me. The man from the airport!" Bella jabbed the photo print with her finger, landing just underneath the handsome profile of a patron in the background. Jessica stifled a snicker. If they hadn't heard the story about the misplaced luggage at least once a day, the two girls thought they might be missing out. Angela leaned in with a furrowed brow before the cloud broke and she grinned mischievously.

"Collins? Cayman? Are you talking about the man who didn't appreciate you stealing his suitcase?" The two girls burst into a fit of giggles, and Bella didn't appreciate it. Maybe she had dwelled on the incident too much, but it really had mortified her.

"Edward _Cullen._ Yes, that's him. Why is he still here in Paris? It's been almost two weeks." When Bella actually began searching her pictures for more traces of the strange man, even Jessica began eyeing the girl judgmentally.

"Bella. He probably lives here." Smothering a yawn, Jessica descended from the bed and padded towards the door with her arms stretched languidly over her head. "I'm going to bed. We have classes, remember? I'll meet you at 7:30 and we can walk over together for the orientation."

Bella continued to stare at the photograph, crumpled from the exertions laid upon it, wondering why such a beautiful man seemed to constantly show up when she least expected it. Angela had already gone to sleep when she realized that that the picture had been taken at the same café they had met at before.

Ж

The orientation was far more boring than it had first appeared, if that was possible. Instead of a meet and greet, like Bella had expected, it was a presentation in a too-small auditorium. She was just thankful she had arrived early and gotten a seat. Angela's boyfriend had to stand in the back with several others. Half asleep and sandwiched between Jessica and a large boy who sat at least a head taller than she did, Bella struggled to pay attention to what the speaker was droning on about. It had something to do with the pride of the University's history and the significance of La Sorbonne. She really didn't care. It was hard to listen to a sermon on academics when she could hardly stay awake. Apparently falling out of a normal school schedule had hit her hard. She thanked her lucky stars for the travel alarm clock Charlie had bought her.

Bella hadn't realized she was dozing off again until her temple landed against something hard and…solid. She jolted from the beginnings of a REM cycle and blinked twice in surprise before blushing wildly with embarrassment. With a frantic glance to her left, she was pleased to see that Jessica hadn't noticed. However, she couldn't mistake the deep, amused chuckle coming from her right. Oh great. At least the shock of embarrassment would keep her awake now. Slowly she turned to meet the eyes of the boy sitting beside her and realized that she was staring at a muscled shoulder instead of a tickled expression. Apparently _that_ had been what she had hit her head on. Bella wriggled with humiliation. She mouthed an apology before sinking further into her seat.

"You can use my shoulder if you want. I don't mind," the amused laughter continued underneath the boy's breath. He was talking to her, just softly enough not to be heard, not that it mattered. Some people were snoring more loudly than their quiet conversation.

"No offense, but I think I've slept on softer rocks," she pressed a hand to her mouth to conceal a little giggle. Glancing back up into his face, she was stunned by the sheer broadness of his smile. He was all teeth! Those pearly whites contrasted sharply against the fierce bronze of his skin, and vaguely Bella wondered if he was one of those reservation kids. Charlie had always been close to several who lived in La Push, so she wouldn't have been surprised if there were other Quileute areas in Washington.

His chuckle came rather expectedly, and Bella thought it was a nice chance in comparison to the hoarse man still speaking up front. "Should I take that as a compliment then?"

Bella snorted at that comment. Yeah right. Her sudden bout of narcolepsy was all part of an elaborate plan to hit on an absolute stranger. No thank you. "I think you're sleep-deprived, too" she said with the remnants of a smirk.

The boy was laughing again. He sure was a happy fellow, wasn't he? "So what's your name?" he asked, leaning in a bit closer so they could whisper more easily.

"Bella. Are you part of the Washington group, too?" She hadn't seen him around, though that wasn't saying much. The campus was large, and she didn't exactly make the effort to be sociable. Though, it would be interesting to meet a student from another college.

"Yeah, I am. The name's Jake. Are you here for the business classes?" he replied amiably, though loudly enough to be greeted by a few stares, Jessica's included. Bella tried not to laugh.

"No. I'm a Classics major. I thought it would be interesting to take a few literature courses here. You know, on top of being in an amazing city." Honestly, the travelling part had intrigued her much more than taking classes that would beef up a resume. Bella had no idea what she wanted to do with her life. A small part of her really hoped she'd find something that piqued her interest while she was abroad. At the very least, something to give meaning to what she considered a rather dull existence.

"Cool. I'm taking a few international business courses myself. I thought it would be interesting, though I have no idea what I'm going to do with it." Bella couldn't help but return his smile as he spoke. He was so grinny. It was refreshing. "Are you from Seattle? You don't look like a small town girl."

Bella disagreed. She fit in far better with the pale-skinned, northern crowd rather than the ranks in Arizona. Even if she loved the warmth of sunny weather, she had never really felt akin to the people of Phoenix. Then again, her new peers were an odd match as well. "My dad lives in Forks. I stay with him during the summer."

Jake's eyes lit up as the dawning of realization bloomed on his face. "Bella? Isabella Swan? Don't tell me you're Charlie's girl."

...Bella wasn't sure whether to be horrified or flattered. Well, clearly the world was much smaller than she had assumed, because now she had two guys showing up intermittently with no explanation whatsoever. She raised a skeptical eyebrow before answering. "It's Bella Swan. Do I _know_ you?"

When he slapped his thigh and boomed with laughter, her row and several in front turned to stare. She felt her temperature rise once again.

"No way! I've met you before! Jacob Black! Remember? A year or two ago, when you came to visit? I live on La Push with my dad. I fixed Charlie's truck." He prattled on, his eyes wrinkling with the force of his grin. Perhaps if she wasn't attempting to cover her face from the prying eyes of the entire auditorium, she could have thought more clearly.

"Will you shut up?" she hissed, her free hand snatching at his sleeve to tug him down to her level. It didn't happen. Jacob's legs were far too long to do any more scrunching. Her embarrassment made him laugh again, and she was tempted to take off her tennis shoe, remove her sock, and shove it into the gaping hole of his mouth. She really didn't want to make such a horrible impression on her very first day.

"What? This is great! Which dorm are you in? I'll come visit." He was speaking more quietly, thankfully. Did he have no shame? Bella didn't think so, because he was still sniggering like a fool. Bella wasn't sure she wanted him in her room, at least not when he was so clearly giddy for _no reason._

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Just shut up. I'm on the second floor of B. Can we just not talk now?"

Jacob laughed for a few more moments before finally quieting down, and Bella was vastly relieved. One of the professors were glaring their way, and she really didn't want to get bad marks in one of her classes all because of a half-stranger's over exuberance at their meeting. Letting her dark hair fall as a curtain in front of her face, Bella peered through her wispy bangs to see if the entire world was still staring. Thankfully, she didn't see any eyes turned her way, at least not immediately…

Amber eyes.

Her stomach dropped as her heart shot straight into her throat, palpitating erratically. She wasn't even sure why she was still so shocked to see this…Edward Cullen. Of course he was there. _Of course._ They had arrived on the same flight, after all. Pressing a cool hand to her face, she could feel that her cheeks were aflame once again. Edward Cullen was studying abroad. Edward Cullen was her classmate. Edward Cullen went to Washington State.

Edward Cullen was an unmitigated asshole.

Bella wanted to slowly dissolve into nonexistence.

Ж

If he had had a heart, Edward was fairly sure it would have skipped a beat. That girl…_the_ girl…was at the University of Paris' transatlantic orientation. It wouldn't have been so bad, perhaps, if she hadn't seen him, too. A piece of him, the selfish part that wanted so badly to ask her for a name, was pleased to see the beginnings of color creep into her delicate features. She was blushing…she was nervous. And over him.

No, he couldn't let himself get carried away. Edward wasn't going to fawn over a human girl, a graceless, tactless girl who was only ordinary. Too ordinary. If a beauty like Rosalie hadn't accomplished the task of turning him into a smitten lover, there was no way a merely average school girl could. There was nothing special about her.

…Except her scent. The way her eyes glanced away from his. Her illusive thoughts. Long, thick eyelashes. The way she captured her bottom lip between her teeth. Her still-pink skin.

Holy hell.

He was smitten.

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Sorry this is later than I planned! I just returned from Turkey. I'll post a new chapter soon.


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